Tennessee lawsuit claims VA negligent in suicide

NASHVILLE, Tenn. 
The widow of an Iraq war veteran from Tennessee claims in a lawsuit that the Veterans Affairs Department was negligent in failing to diagnose and treat his post-traumatic stress disorder before he committed suicide in 2008.

The suit filed Tuesday in federal court in Greeneville says staff at the VA hospital in Mountain Home didn't adequately treat Scott Walter Eiswert before his suicide at the age of 31. Eiswert, who served with the Tennessee National Guard, deployed to Iraq in 2004 and 2005.

The lawsuit says that although he'd been diagnosed with PTSD by a private counselor, Eiswert's disability claims that his PTSD stemmed from his military service were denied by the VA.

A VA representative in Mountain Home did not immediately return a message left Wednesday morning seeking comment.